Exploring community protection

Abstract

This is an attempt to provide conceptual clarity to the community protection component of Pennsylvania's restorative justice enterprise. After a brief background of the legislative changes to Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system and the theoretical development of restorative justice, data from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are utilized to define and measure what is meant by community protection.

What do we do with those kids? A critical review of current responses to juvenile delinquency and an alternative

“…While a few American jurisdictions utilize restorative justice with designated offenders, the dichotomous response to juveniles represents the lack of governmental and societal commitment to working with youth. For example, Pennsylvania added restorative measures to its juvenile justice act and uses restorative programs in some areas (Verrecchia & Hutzell, 2014), yet at the same time, the state has sentenced the most individuals to life without possibility of parole for juvenile offenses (Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch, 2005) questioning its true commitment to the process rather than punishment. South Carolina has been called an example for restorative justice model (Pavelka, 2008); yet has high school expulsion rates especially for minority youth (Civil Rights Data Collection [CRDC], 2014).…”